19:00-22:15 – Prince George, the "Northern Capital of BC" sports 77,000 inhabitants, mostly hunters. From my perspective, it is the biggest pro-hunting city in BC, north or south, bar none.

Tonight's open presentation at the Prince George Civic Centre on 855 Dominion Street, MCed by Carolyn Lynden, is pre-announced via media by design. I want page A-1 newspaper coverage. Gordon Hoekstra of the Prince George Citizen (dist. 23,000) will be there, guaranteed. It will be Port Alberni all over again, only, twice as big crowd-wise, and 10X as big media-wise.

As it worked out, there were about 10 environmentalists and AR people, mostly seated in the first two rows, and easily 130 hunters and guide-outfitters huffing behind their backs. They stuffed the room to standing-room-only, and spilled out into the hallway.

Carolyn’s friends Susan and Julie who were there said that they were sickened almost right from the start by the atmosphere of hostility and hatred. Julie, an elementary school teacher, said to me after the event, with tears in her eyes, “Now I know how some of my kids get to be so screwed up. How can they not be with parents like these?” Susan said that she would have left had it not been for her friend Carolyn.

This time, they didn’t even wait for me to begin before hammering me with whatever abuse they pleased. Some of them were from Port Alberni, and the guy who chased me on the Port Alberni highway was probably there as well. I know this because they were quoting what I said in that “presentation” – misquoted, rather - and someone remarked about me speeding. Some blatantly said, “This is not what I heard you say in Port Alberni.” So, they’re stalking me, and will continue to do so for the rest of the road tour. I wonder who among them were the ones chasing me on the Port Alberni highway. Have they switched to a Corvette for the next pursuit? One thing I haven’t noted in this journal up to this point, and that is the almost continuous presence of video cameras aimed at me wherever I speak, with their red eyes staring at me. Tonight is the same. We should do the same back to them, if only to serve as a deterrent against overly murderous behaviour. Also, it would help me recognize those who have been tracking me. The next big presentation will be in Kamloops July 8. I’ll see if any by-now familiar faces will show up there. One thing is familiar - their mob behavior. Sometimes I deliberately tested their patience, and there wasn't much of it there - a veritable powder keg with a short fuse.

Some maintained that WCWC and Bear Watch were one and the same, and that WCWC had unlimited funding, and that the Rear Referendum was nothing but another fund-raiser.

In the crowd was also a conservation officer who operates in the Prince George Omineca region. He differed sharply from the hunters on one point. The hunters always argue that poaching is insignificant, to support their contention that the bear are under little or no pressure and could therefore tolerate the extent of legal hunting they themselves exert upon them.

In contrast, international experts, e.g. Doggett, estimate that for every bear legally killed by hunters, at least one is killed by a poacher – 1:1. Slobodian estimated even 2:1 illegally killed to legally killed. The hunters, on the other hand, and collaborated by the BC Environment Ministry, say only one bear poached for every three to four bears legally hunted – 1:3 to 1:4. This, combined with what environmentalists and preservationists believes to be an inflated official Grizzly bear population estimate of 10,000-13,000 (versus independent biologists’ much more conservative estimate of 4,000-7,000), would give the general public that there are so many bears in the province that not only can they be hunted, but they should be.

The Omineca conservation officer, on the other hand, reported that in his region of Prince George Omineca, the poaching-to-hunting ratio could be as high as 10 to 1! He himself found 14 bear carcasses with just the gall bladders and paws removed over the last few weeks alone. There are only 140 conservation officers to patrol the entire province. A larger force will find more carcasses.

In the end, he came to shake my hand. I pledged to him that I will do all I can to persuade government to hire more conservation officers.

One or two of the hunters also came to shake hands and tried to make peace somehow, in spite of which I was far from being reassured that some post-presentation harassment a la Port Alberni wouldn’t happen. I didn’t tell Carolyn about the highway chase, but on her own accord she suggested that a few of us go to a nearby Tim Horton’s for a night snack. This sounded like a reasonable deterrent, so we went. We were joined by Susan, another of Carolyn’s friends, and a couple who were at the presentation named Dr. Peter Carter and Julie Johnson, both of Prince George.

Julie said, “You must have taken logic and philosophy courses.”

Peter remarked that he perceived the audience undergoing a subtle change, from flat out hostility to a low keyed respect even though they remained sternly in opposition, “having seen that you remained calm and respectful and were obviously genuine. You didn’t change any minds, Anthony, but you converted a few hearts.” After the night snack, we said good night and God speed, and Carolyn drove me back in her car to her place. I check behind us several times without Carolyn noticing, and saw no one tailing us.

Tomorrow, the real boomies – Dunster. I am currently skirting the far reaches of the province, the outback, in Aussie lingo. The highway I’ll be driving tomorrow is the back road parallel to the BC/Alberta border. I don’t have to be reminded yet again, which the audience tonight again did, and that I’m a hated outsider coming into their communities to tell them what to do, worse, what they can't do. The confrontation this evening is about as close to a mass lynching as a civilization like Canada would allow.

July 5, 1996, Fri.The Prince George Citizenby Gordon Hoekstra

Fur flies at meeting to ban bear hunts

It was barely civil, and sometimes downright ugly.

In the end, it took a campaigner of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee close to two hours to deliver a plea for help to ban bear hunting in BC.

Anthony Marr was interrupted, shouted down and generally abused by hunters that dominated an audience of more than 100 that spilled out of a conference room at the Civic Centre Thursday evening.

The information meeting - sponsored by the Nechako Environmental Coalition - at one point deteriorated into a shouting match between two members in the audience.

Marr had barely begun to explain that the WCWC wants to start a citizen referendum to ban sport and trophy hunting before he was attacked.

“Who’s going to make this decision? The Lower Mainland?” challenged a member of the audience.

When Marr finally finished his slide presentation that began with a history of poaching and hunting of elephants, rhinoceroses and tigers, he had explained that the dwindling population of bears in Asia and escalating demand for bear parts there was putting increasing pressure on bear populations in Canada.

His analysis was that since it was difficult to stop poacher in BC - who by his estimates accounted for at least once if not twice as many kills as licensed hunters - a moratorium on licensed bear hunting was needed to ease pressures on bear populations.

“I plead with you to make a personal sacrifice and stop hunting Grizzly bears,” he said, adding little about Black bears in his presentation.

Marr’s population number were similar to the BC wildlife department’s estimates of 100,000 to 140,000 Black bears, one quarter of Canada’s population, and 10,000 to 13,000 Grizzlies, although he also quoted certain independent biologists’ estimates, which are lower than the governments’.

The annual kill from licensed hunters of Black bears in the recent past averaged about 4,000, and for Grizzlies, from 237 to 368, averaging 323.

Hunters in the audience said Marr should be targeting the Asian countries that buy bear parts and helping those already attempting to stop poachers.

But some in the audience went even further, questioning Marr’s credentials (he’s a geophysicist), his motivation (he started his campaign after he read a TIME article on the decimation of tigers), where he lived (Vancouver), his knowledge of the bush (his geophysical exploration work took him there), and his links to Bear Watch - a radical anti-bear-hunting group (he says he is not a member of the group).

I took the Silver Bullet this morning at 08:00 to Chuck’s Automotive, as recommended by Scott. Annette led me there in her van, then let me drive it to Parksville for my 09:00 radio interview by Sherv Shragg, which ended at 09:45, with two call-ins. Annette listened to it at home and told me later that Sherv and I made “a highly professional host-guest pair”. The two call-ins were mild, questions rather than statements.

When I got back to Chuck’s, my car was done – just a change of spark plugs - $81. The mechanic said that I should change the whole set of spark plug cables as well, saying that some were not in good shape, and could arc in the rain, which was probably what happened, since it did rain during that drive. Being small towns, however, neither Qualicum nor Parksville had a cable set.

[23:18] You’ll never guess how many people showed up at Salt Spring Island – a reputed bastion of environmentalism and the home base of Bear Watch. Zero. Other than Jan Theunisz and Paul George’s daughter Athena, that is. I missed the 17:30 ferry, caught the 19:00 ferry and landed on Salt Spring at 19:35. Jan was there waving at me, and told me that the score was zilch. Jan Invited me to go for a drink. We ended up having dinner at the ferry terminal, and we talked till 20:20, when I headed for the 20:30 ferry back to Crofton.

Tonight is our last at the Tanners’. I savor the stars through the skylight with extra appreciation. Somewhere along the line, I asked Raminothna, “How many of these stars have planets in the same mess as this one?”

R: "If you could tell me how many planets there are with civilization, I'll give you the same number as an answer to your question."

A: "Are you saying that all planets with civilization will get trashed?"

R: "Each in its own time of course."

A: "And then what? They all get blown up in nuclear wars, or get roasted by artificial global heating?"

R: "Not all, but some."

A: "Do you know which ones?"

R: "We have our ways."

A: "Care to share?"

R: "That is inter-stellar-level knowledge, not available to intra-planetary, inter-national, level societies. Sorry."

A: "Wow! How many levels are there?"

R: "Between the international and the interstellar levels, there is the interplanetary level."

A: "And what level are you on?"

R: "Also privileged knowledge not available to intra-planetary societies."

A: "So, how about this planet?"

R: "This I can tell: Its time is now."

A: "And?"

R: "And what?"

A: "And... is it going to make it?"

R: "You'll know if you do, and you won't know if you don't."

A: "But what about you. Do you know? Don't tell me. Privileged knowledge not available to us lowly intra-planetary societies, right?"

R: "That's right."

A: "Back a few decades, we had a saying: 'The medium is the message.' You are my medium, and your message is that we stand a chance, or else you wouldn't be here. Am I right?"

R: "I could be here to document yet another case of international mutual-destruction, or planetary self-destruct."

A: "Your tone seems optimistic."

R: "You might consider me an optimistic realist."

A: "Give me your most optimistic line."

R: "Okay, and here it is: 'There is never a bad ending'."

A: "Oh, so, there is never a bad ending for any planet, including this one?"

R: "No. There is never a bad ending - for the Universe."

A: "What do you mean?"

R: "Survival of the Benevolent."

A: "As per Darwinism?"

R: "Something like that. Let the malevolent commit self-destruction, and the benevolent transcend on to supra-planetary civilization. Isn't it good for all the Universe?"

Good night, Christopher.

June 19, 1996, Wed.The Parksville/Qualicum Paperby Valerie Baker

Anti-hunting referendum proposal generates debate

The abolition of legal bear hunting is being sought by the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.

Chinese Canadian WCWC environmentalist Anthony Marr was at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre on Monday to garner support . . .

Marr is on an 8-week province-wide road tour of the 75 electoral districts on an initiative petition drive . . . to protect what could become a threatened species, he says.

Some audience members shook their heads when slides illustrating the barbaric practice of poachers killing bears for their gall bladders and paws for export to Asia were shown.

Not all agreed with Marr’s crusade to ban legal hunting, particularly some local hunters in the audience.

Parksville/Qualicum Fish and Game Association president, Rod Wiebe, who has shot one bear in his 30 years as a hunter, asked whether a ban on legal hunting would stop poaching, and challenged Marr on a hunter’s ethical right to hunt. Marr said if the number of bears killed was reduced by the 4-6% hunted legally, it would be alleviate the pressure on the bears somewhat, and would make it a clearcut case that anyone caught shooting a bear is a poacher.

Bob Morris, Immediate Past President of BC Wildlife Federation, says they are actively lobbying the government for more conservation officers, and says Marr should spend more time lobbying to support the Federation rather than try to ban legal hunting. Marr responded by saying that a part of the referendum addresses raising penalties against poachers and traffickers, and the increased revenue can be used to hire more conservation officers.

Morris, a 20-year hunter who has yet to kill a bear, told The Paper he disagreed with Marr that the Black bear could become a threatened species, saying that there are approximately 50 bears per 100 sq. km. in northern BC, whereas conservationists are saying that 10 bears per 100 sq. km. is a viable population. He said an additional $5 is charged on a hunting license to enhance bear habitat.

Marr said it is true that the Black bear is not yet threatened, but it could go the same way as the Asiatic Black bear which has been hunted for galls and paws to the brink of extinction. “If anything even faster, since our bears are now facing not only poaching for galls and paws, but also trophy hunting for head and hide,” says Marr.

Another local hunter said Asian influence is the problem. “You are wasting your time trying to cut down on legal hunters instead of poachers. Why go after us? You should be asking us to help you (prevent illegal poaching).”

Marr replied that he already has an anti-poaching/anti-trafficking/anti-use program, and fired back, “You keep on hiding behind the word ‘legal’. Legal doesn’t mean right or moral. Slavery used to be legal too. To me, taking a bear for head and hide, which are body parts, is as wrong as taking a bear for gall and paws.”

Another questioned the loss of revenue from licensing if legal hunting is banned. Marr replied that non-consumptive ecotourism, such as bear-watching, can employ more people and bring in more revenue.

The numerous aspects of illegal poaching were discussed, including the need for new trade laws, export of Canadian bears to China or Korea under the phony “zoological specimen” description, high penalties against poaching and trafficking, and the use of penalty revenue to hire more conservation officers. On conservation officers, Marr said that BC is several times the size of Washington state, but has fewer conservation officers; where we need about 3,000, all we have are a meager 140.

Marr asked audience members to consider becoming volunteer referendum canvassers, saying that approximately 3,000 signatures are needed to represent 10% of registered voters in this riding.

Canvassers must be registered voters and a resident of the district. For information phone 1-800-661-WILD; to report a poacher phone 1-800-663-WILD.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Note: This is a sample chapter of Anthony Marr's 3rd-book-in-the-making

[DEAR HOMO SAPIENS OF EARTH]

To read the manuscript as it is being written, please go to:

www.DearHomoSapiens.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

===================================================

Part II - Bear ReferendumChapter 11 - 2 Greenhorns vs 60 Bullies

June 14, 1996, Friday, mostly sunny

[12:02 @ Annette and Scott Tanner’s in Qualicum]

Dearest Christopher:

TGIF - Thank God it’s Friday - if only because it is the day after Thursday. And what about Thursday? It was the night of the dreaded Big Confrontation in Port Alberni, and it lived up to expectations and more.

What transpired was a horrific free for all, the “all” being the 60+ hunters in an audience of about 70, all crammed into a room meant for no more than 30, with just that many chairs. "Standing room only" gets brand new meaning. It was a hot summer night, and the body heat and the red hot verbal exchanges made it resemble an oven, and the oven doors were jammed by hunters. Of the five or six supporters, at least two or three were so intimidated that they slipped away unnoticed, leaving Maureen Sager, my local host, and two or three other women and a gentlemanly doctor to hold the bag.

The hunter group included two or three guide-outfitters and a conservation officer who was overtly chummy with the hunters. About two-thirds were men and one-third were women, the latter attired from T-shirts and jeans to business suits and high heels, but all with blood lust in their eyes, especially as their stares converged unflinchingly at me. No doubt, however subconsciously, they looked upon me and Erica as their collective prey tonight. And when they fired their verbal barrages, they did it in pack form, often when I was in mid-sentence. I estimate that of every ten sentences I attempted in my slideshow presentation, I could finish maybe two, and those were the shortest ones.

Maureen, an active woman in her 60s, did her best to keep order, but was totally ignored, and at times assaulted by such words as, “This guy flies in and out, but you have to live here, lady. So watch your mouth!”

Another jeered, “Not only is this guy from out of town, he is from out of the country, for God’s sake, and he has the gall to barge in here and tell us what we can and can’t do!”

An older man echoed, “All Chinese immigrants should be charged $100,000 for the damage done to the Canadian culture, like what this guy is doing right now!”

About a third thorough my slideshow, I found myself turning off the projector and saying, “Fine. If you want a debate, we’ll have a debate.” Strangely, this put some order into the proceedings, since then they would be interrupting one another if they spoke more than one at a time.

Basically, their message to us, obviously predetermined, was “scrap your campaign, or else”. The milder ones were thoughtful enough to say, “change your campaign to strictly anti-poaching but pro-hunting, and we’ll support you, or else”.

If the men were bad, like punching in the gut, some of the women were worse, like pinching your sensitive zones. One said, “What you’re trying to do is to deprive my son of a great heritage that his forefathers created and God condoned, and his father, and his mother, now enjoy.”

Another said, “If you don’t play the game, honey, you don’t make the rules.”

Through the first hour, Erica sat on the sideline. Finally, she could contain herself no longer, and stood to make a point. Before she could finish her sentence, as was now the norm, another older man shouted, “Young lady, you are not old enough to lecture me.”

I pointed at the “honey” woman, who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, and said, “I’ve been listening to this young lady for the last hour. It’s about time you listen to this young lady,” indicating Erica, “for a change. Go ahead, Erica.” Strangely, the man acquiesced, and stranger still, the “honey” woman gave me a sweet smile.

In contrast to the physical heat which I found hard to tolerate, I found myself handling them in a surprisingly relaxed state, matching wits with them point by point without losing my cool, and in fact enjoying certain moments of this my first major confrontation with a large group of well organized hunters. They maybe good shots through a gun barrel, but are lousy shots through their mouths.

At one point, a hunter said, “Who gives you the authority to do what you’re doing?”

“What do you think of the Chinese tradition of using bear gall bladders for medicine?” I asked back.

“I think that’s obscene.”

“Should it be banned?”

“Damn right! It should be banned, and it is banned, but by the law, not by some freelance environmentalist.”

“I agree with you on this, sir, but I think killing a magnificent creature to hang its head on a wall is equally obscene, and it, too, should be banned, unless, like you, I have a double standard.”

At another point, when one of them was talking about “ethical hunters”, I responded with, “If there are ethical hunters, there must be unethical hunters?”

At another point, I asked them point blank whether they had never deliberately broken any law, never taken anything on the side, never left any kills unreported, never taken more than their permits allowed, never wounded any animal that got away... “If you have never done any of these, raise your hand,” I challenged them. Almost every hand came up, but many after a few unmistakable seconds of hesitation.

It is clear that the hunters, in spite of their oft-repeated claim that they are the original and true conservationists of wildlife, care first and foremost for the perpetration of their blood sport, and whatever conservation effort they may exert is first and foremost so that they will have something to hunt.

The intimidation tactic is evidently orchestrated by the BC Wildlife Federation whose own stated prime goal is “to promote the sport of hunting”, although many came close to admitting that for those who shoot from their 4X4s on logging roads, there is no sport at all.

They view our attack on the bear hunt as an attack on the entire hunting edifice from the top down, since the Grizzly bear is considered the apex predator of BC, and from the foundation up, considering that Grizzly bear hunt is pure and unadulterated trophy hunting. It strikes me as futile to present to them the government’s over-estimation of the Grizzly bear population and under-estimation of the poaching extent. These numbers suit them and they hang on to them as the gospel truth. Their “faith”, like that of the Creationists who ignore all scientific evidence to the contrary, cannot be questioned, serves as the connecting link for their circular argument.

It is clear that it would be futile for us to try to convert them. Our job here is to rally the already converted into a coherent fighting force. But in terms of this evening’s meeting being a work session, it was unproductive and even counter-productive. The few supporters who showed up either disappeared or were too intimidated to sign up, at least in the presence of the hunters. But not all is lost. The plus is that Diane Morrison, a reporter from the local newspaper, was present, and from the readers of her article may emerge a certain number of volunteers. Her presence, to say the least, prevented the hunters from getting out of hand, but they seemed determined to give her something dramatic to report, and I think they did an admirable job in that.

The hunters left the room while we were packing up with the help of our hosts. One of the ladies commended us for being “brave” and another said to me, “Anthony, now I have full confidence that you can talk your way out of any situation.”

Well, debating is one thing. Driving with the pedal to the metal is another. As I was driving off, I noticed a truck in the rear-view mirror. I made one or two random turns and the truck followed suit, staying about half a block behind. At a red light, the truck pulled right up to my rear bumper, with its high beam glaring into my rear view mirror. I looked for a police car but couldn’t find any. I looked for the police station and couldn’t find it. Finally, I took the plunge and got on to the highway due east back to Qualicum. The truck did the same. I could identify it because it had one head light brighter than the other, and one of the parking lights was out. I did not bring it to Erica’s attention in order not to alarm her or show my own alarm. We talked for a bit, then she reclined her seat and soon fell asleep.

I increased my speed, and the truck did likewise. I slowed down to see if it would pass, but it did not, and if it tried, I wouldn’t let it anyway, not wanting to be blocked. I sped up again, and the truck did likewise, and pulled closer to my bumper the farther we left the town behind. Before long, it didn’t even bother to keep up a pretense and began tailgating. I’ve been tailgated a thousand times by highway loonies before, but these weren’t hotheads but cold-blooded killers. I thought about what I should do next.

I tried the cell phone, but we had gone outside of any service area. Only one thing left. I had to out-run it. My car, a 1993 Mazda MX6 Mystere, is low and aero-dynamic and light and nimble, can do 0-60 mph in 7 seconds, which is right up there with the Mercedes and BMWs - in performance if not in price. Best of all, with its sport suspension, it has a .86g lateral-g-force tolerance, whereas that of a truck is less than .70g. This means that my car can take a corner much faster without losing traction or rolling over. The highway was dark and twisty, and cresting and troughing, and hemmed in by thick forest on both sides, which sounds forbidding, but I deemed it advantageous to my car over the truck. So I floored it and took the curves at the limit. The truck, probably with a big V8, could likely catch me on the straights, but on this highway it was left in the dust, or was it in the ditch. I kept this up for miles, until I was sure it had given up the chase, and still I maintained a fair clip until I saw the lights of Qualicum. Erica slept through the whole thing. I kept the chase to myself, even from the Tanners, not wanting to alarm potential volunteers if the news of physical violence got out.

This evening, we are going to Nanaimo to give a presentation at the Brecken United Church, 19:00. The event is arranged by George Gibson of Sierra Club. But we received a fax from Bonita yesterday, about Sierra Club being super-pissed-off due to a PSA having been placed in the Nanaimo Times about Sierra Club sponsoring WCWC’s anti-hunting campaign. Sierra Club has always been a moderate group which tries not to offend anyone on either side. I don’t know who put the PSA in, but George is in doodoos with Sierra Club over it. This is the second time George got into trouble because of us. The first time was when Erica told Diana Angus of Sierra Club, Cowichan chapter, that George had given us a list of Sierra Club members to call to invite to this evening’s Nanaimo event. Diana told Erica that George had violated Sierra Club protocol. I owe George one, no, two.

Thinking of the chase, which could turn deadly, and which could happen again farther down the road, and those incidences where environmentalists actually were killed, I pondered the probability of my returning to Vancouver alive. I asked Raminothna, “If you were my guardian angel, or even God, would you guarantee my safe return?”

Raminothna said, “Whatever will be is meant to be, and whatever meant to be will be, but as for now, let me say this. The atoms on the cutting edge of a blade are the first ones to be worn away, but without them, what purpose do the millions behind them serve?”

Bears, whether Black, Brown, Grizzly or Polar, are not endangered species in North America. Anthony Marr wants to keep it that way.

The campaigner for Western Canada Wilderness Committee was in Port Alberni Thursday night with his effort to ban sport and trophy hunting of Grizzly and Black bears.

It was a very hard sell to the audience of about 70 dominated by hunters and hunting guides that packed into a into small, hot room at the Friendship Centre, made even hotter by the temper flaring up from wall to wall.

The hunters say they are the endangered species. They wanted the distinction between legal hunting and poaching to be clearly recognized. “Go ask the bears, to see if they can,” said Marr. He also said that some hunters and guides make this is impossible, because they are themselves poachers.

Marr believes that, with both legal hunting, poaching and conservation officer kills, about 8% of the Grizzly bear population and more than 10% of the Black bear population are being killed each year. He said the province’s Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy clearly states that the species can sustain no more than a 4% annual mortality before going into decline, and even this, according to Marr, is too high.

Members of the audience disputed Marr’s numbers saying that, on Vancouver Island at least, the Black bear population has been increasing by 15% for the last 10 years. Marr countered that the Black bear populations on southern Vancouver Island, and some in Mid-Island, have been decimated in various locales, citing the Cowichan Lake area as an example, and challenged the hunters to produce written documentation to support their claim, which they did not.

A number of people asked why Marr’s main thrust was to shut down legal hunting when the problem is poaching. Marr replied that both in combination is the problem, and that he has another sub-campaign targeting poachers and traffickers of bear parts. A Chinese Canadian, Marr has taken on both Canadian hunters and the Chinese demand for the body parts of these animals.

After about an hour of cross firing, WCWC campaign assistant Erica Denison finally stood up and said that until poaching can be brought under control, they want to buy time for the bears to recover. One of the hunters pointed at her and said, “Young lady, you are not old enough to teach us anything. Sit down!” Marr pointed at a middle-aged woman in the audience who had been quite outspoken in favour of hunting, saying, “I’ve been listening to this young lady for the last hour. Erica, please continue.”

Marr needs to get hunters on his side, the woman said, not slam them, because hunters also want to stop poaching.

Some audience members said it is organizations such as WCWC, advertising the fact that bear parts are worth so much on the black market, that is increasing poaching. Marr scoffed at this as an “ostrich attitude”.

They objected to being told that they can’t legally hunt bears, but bears that get into garbage and smash bee hives can be killed for being a nuisance. Marr said, “The bears you kill are not nuisance bears, and that killing nuisance bears is not your job.”

When shown a picture of a bear shut in a small cage with a tube leading out from its gall bladder to extract bile, one man said that countries that treat animals like that are not democratic and so they have no conscience. Marr countered that lots of capitalists have no conscience either.

Another man was convinced that if WCWC us successful in shutting down bear hunting, it will try to shut down all hunting. Marr said, “If another hunted species becomes threatened or endangered, I would champion its cause as well.”

Back to poaching, Marr said that when an animal such as tigers and rhinos is declared endangered, the demand and price, and so the poaching, skyrocket, hastening its slide into oblivion. “It is a very vicious cycle, and the purpose of this campaign is to try to keep our own bears out of it.”...

Beware of the Seven Cosmic Signs on the face of the Earth, all observable from the Moon. Collectively, they portend an imminent and monumental transformation to come unto your world, one leading to either planetary transcendence or global destruction. All seven of these Cosmic Signs have arisen.

The First Cosmic Sign: For millions of years, Earth’s night side has been invisibly dark, but now, suddenly, there is light, neon light.

The Second Cosmic Sign: For millions of years, Earth’s surface has been lush and green, but now, suddenly, there is deforestation and desertification.

The Third Cosmic Sign: For millions of years, Earth’s atmosphere has been clean and its hydrosphere clear, but now, suddenly, there is pollution.

The Fourth Cosmic Sign: Never in its 4.6-billion-year history has Earth generated a single thermal nuclear reaction, but now, suddenly, she is in danger of generating too many too soon.

The Fifth Cosmic Sign: For millions of years, the ozone layer has shielded the Biosphere from harmful solar UV radiation, but now, suddenly, it is full of holes.

The Sixth Cosmic Sign: For millions of years, as a radio source the Earth has been silent, but now, suddenly, it is inundating it’s inter-planetary and interstellar neighborhood with its news, movies, documentaries, commentaries, soap operas, sitcoms, commercials… and televangelical sermons, which still preaches that you are the be all and end all of “Creation”.

The Seventh Cosmic Sign: Earth was born of gravity, and by its own gravity its body parts have always been bound, but now, pieces of Earth – spacecraft, so called - are seen to suddenly fly away, some never to return.

Among Earth’s spacecraft are the Apollos, from whose #8 was broadcast a prayer as follows: “Give us, o God, the vision which can see thy love in the world in spite of human failure. Give us the faith, the trust, the goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts, and show us what each of us can do to set forth the coming of the day of universal peace. Amen.”

And the Pioneers 10 & 11, each carrying an identity plaque showing the position of Earth and the image of Homo Sapiens (which some humans call “the image of God”.)

And the Voyagers 1 & 2, each bearing an audio-visual recording of Earth sights and sounds, the latter including earthquake and thunder, bird and whale songs, human music and speech, the last being excerpted as follows:

From the President of the United States of America: “This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our image, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we can live into yours. We hope some day, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome Universe.”

From the citizens of Earth: “We send all beings of the Universe an affectionate greeting of peace and happiness. May the future grant us the opportunity of meeting.” (in Spanish) / “Greetings from our friends amongst the stars. If you can cross the barrier between Earth and sky then do it. It is our desire to meet you.” (in Arabic) / “Welcome to our world.” (in Polish) / “How are you? We are thinking about you. Come visit us some time.” (in Chinese) / “We used to believe that the Universe was created for us humans on Earth alone, but we can no longer maintain this belief. We now think that you may exist to share this Universe with us, and have the power to help solve the many problems here in our world.” (in Efic) / “Please contact.” (in Gujurati)

From the Secretary General of the United Nations: “As the Secretary General of the United Nations, an organization of 147 member states who represent almost all of the human individuals of the planet Earth, I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet. We step out of the Solar System seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. We know full well that our planet and all its inhabitants are but a small part of the immense Universe, and it is with humility and hope that we take this step.”

In short, three words: “Greeting”, “Welcome” and “Help!” And I, for one, hear them with joy and compassion. For the first, I salute you; for the second, I come to you, and for the third, I bear to you a gift of joy, of hope, of understanding and of peace.

About Anthony Marr

Anthony Marr
* has a degree in physics
* is the author of "OMNI-SCIENCE and the Human Destiny" (2003) and "Homo Sapiens SAVE YOUR EARTH" (2008)
* 1995, he cleaned up N. American Chinatowns of endangered species medicines
* 1996, he led "the highest-profile anti-trophy-hunting campaign in Canada" (Globe and Mail).
* 1997-1999, he worked in 3 tiger reserves in India.
* 1999, he founded Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE).
* 2004/2005, he conducted operations in Japan against whaling and dolphin slaughter.
* 2003-2011, completed 7 Compassion for Animals Road Expeditions (CARE tours, each covering 30-45 states over 4-7 months), and spoke at the National AR Conference every year
* 2009, he founded the Global Anti-Hunting Coalition (GAHC)
* 2010, he won the Henry Spira Grassroots Activist Award.
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.facebook.com/AnthonyMarr001
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.AnthonyMarr13.wordpress.com
www.Dying-for Salvation.blogspot.com